Wednesday 15 May 2013

concrete pills

Yeahup - maybe Carron has a point in this mornings email:



Tuned in for my Thursday update ..... oh thats right - You didn't ride !!!!!
Concrete pills are on their way by courier as I type.  

Kind regards
Carron




Sadly a late night at work, followed by a 5am text from Chris who had just got back to the hotel after a night out in Bangkok with her work colleagues, and I needed more than concrete pills to effect some "harden up" mentality today.

CM - promise to pedal my little heart out on Sunday when we complete the ride for life.

Monday 13 May 2013

Jafa takes over the blog for a few days

Well, currently Chris is over in Thailand (Bangkok) for work. So to be fair, a bit tricky to do any major training, she will be lucky to fit in a couple of sessions in the hotel gym.

So I am hijacking her blog with an update on this weeks training by her extended support crew and training buddies.

Yesterday Camp Mother got all super keen and efficient (a pretty normal state of affairs for her to be fair!), and I was booked in to a spin class.  This was held at the local bike shop in Takapuna, Kiwivelo.  So this is a "flash-as" bike shop selling some really expensive bikes - so I was feeling somewhat intimidated!  I was running on time thank goodness, and when I got there, CM had us front and centre!  Yikes!  But I had a good view of the TV and the Giro d'Italia.  

The lady to my right was pedalling so frenetically her bike and wind trainer were slowly moving backwards! We did a lot of pedalling in the small chain ring, slowly moving up the gears and then going flat out before a wee rest and starting it all again.  I think we did this about 35 times....at least that is what it felt like when I got off and felt like my legs were wobbly!  I did seem to have some co-ordination issues geting myself back to the car carrying the windtrainer, and pushing my bike.  I got home and it was the best shower ever!

CM is determined to push me along, so I was commited to a 5:50am meet at the Quay St cafe to do a Tuesday morning ride along Tamaki Drive. This requires me to wake up at 5:15am.  And I would like to confirm that I am still not a  morning person.  I made it in time, and we met up with Yvonne too.  CM pushed all of us along to St Heliers, then we headed back, and CM did her little activities she needed to as part of her training, whilst Yvonne and I pegged it back a wee bit.  We headed back towards the city, then after about 10 minutes turned around and rode back to St Heliers and then turned around again to get back to the city.  

What a beautiful morning and spectacular sunrise.  Yvonne is a star and stuck with me as I progressively got slower and slower.  CM caught us up and helped drag us back to base, with a couple of speedy bursts.

My coffee this morning never tasted better - and it seems tomorrow is a recovery day (I translate that to a "sleep-in") and then Thursday CM is suggesting an even earlier start to go out with her bunch along Tamaki Drive and then Yvonne and I can peel off and do our own little set of hills whilst the bunch carries on.  Tune in for more updates on Thursday :)

Sunday 12 May 2013

I see a wall

I kicked her Butt, go me!
Went for a long ride today with Camp Mother, what can I say !!! did great for the first 2hrs 30 then I
had a repeat from Rotorua, hit a wall and before I knew it Camp Mother is screaming past me on the up hills ..... Bummer .... good for you CM!

I was so crap, after 3 hours I bailed and called in my support crew.  Thank you my beautiful wife, I love you heaps :)

A couple of Marathon Crazies

From left, G, Nana, Gusy, Me and Liza behind the camera
Another weekend away from home, this is about 8 in a row....but all for a good cause, we are in Rotorua for the marathon. Gusy and Nana are primed and ready to knock it off!.  Graham, Raff, Holly, Liza and I are support crew, however I have been talked into doing the half marathon first.

The weather was meant to be rain, rain and more rain !!! but we had perfect run weather, overcast and the rain held off until we all got back to the bach.  We stayed at the lake house an awesome bach on the edge of Lake Rotorua.  Fab views :)

An odd late start, the half kicking off at 9am and the marathon at 9.30am.  I started out in a steady run, I was hoping to do a personal best time, and that was looking good until I hit the 13k marker.  Then the legs caved and the rest was a crawl and push all the way home. 

Yup - I finally finished!
Felt like I had done a blinkin Ironman for goodness sake.  I was sooo happy to finish I went and spent $8 on a finishers medal.   Too dam tired to bike round and meet the girls, I meet up with Liza who had been on her own training ride round the lake, so we jumped in the car and drove round the course.  After a few hours we gave up and headed back to the finish line, for sure we would catch them there.  I am such a grap supporter!!

Nana knocked it over in under 5hrs and Gusy cruised in not longer after in 5hrs 30.  Nice work ladies ! Bring on an Ironman eh ?? :)

Well was easy bring on a IM!
Still running at 41k NICE

The girls looking fab and ready for another!

Thursday 2 May 2013

We are soft ... but thats OK

This morning Liza and I got up at 5.15am with full intention of meeting CM in town for a ride and a feed at the cafe.  As we got closer to the city the harder it rained.  In silence both Liza and I kept watching the wipers go faster and faster on the windscreen.  By the time we got to meet CM we had both decided riding didn't sound like much fun at all.

After some coaxing from CM we at least got out of the car, it did mean I had to give up my heated seat !!!.  In prior times I would have ridden, but it certainly was not appealing today ... so yup both Liza and I wished CM good luck with her ride, jumped back in the car and headed off.  Before we pulled out, CM came back with a change of mind ... but to her credit did text me later to say she decided to ride after all.  Go girl you are tough :)

In the meantime, we headed home where I cooked Liza scrambled eggs and we enjoyed a cooked sit down breakfast together .... I don't care if folks call me/us soft it was worth it :)

A pig in mud

Wah hoo ! my new wheels have arrived :) and I got them super cheap $400 off RRP. I know!. They are not deep dish racing wheels but they are a thousand times better than what I had and I can use them everyday.  In fact they are the same as the ones CM let me borrow for Ironman.

Yes, as the photo reveals I did put on tyres and tubes in the lounge :)  My wife loves me .... now I have brought a cassette but have opted to drop the granny gear to see how I go.  I even watched a you tube video on how to put on a cassette.  Need to build up the bike tool kit :) Buggar